Positive-drive system for textile machine spindles



Feb. 27, 1962 o. w. BURKHARDT 3,022,624

POSITIVE-DRIVE SYSTEM FOR TEXTILE MACHINE SPINDLES Filed July 22. 1959 1/5; 7 2. 20 In 20 i M a ,4 IFI I I I 2 15. 27 i /a C a 1 a 26 l0 l0 INVENTOR b 5 OTTO W. BURKHARDT 1mm, a4 AZZJW ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,022,624 POSITIVE-DRIVE SYSTEM FOR TEXTILE MACHINE SPINDLES Otto Wilhelm Burshardt, Bismarck St. 41, Bayreuth, Germany Filed July 22, 1959, Ser. No. 828,755 Claims priority, application Germany Nov. 29, 1958 11 Claims. (Cl. 57-102) This invention relates to arrangements for the driving of spindles in textile machines for either spinning or twisting operations. More particularly it is concerned with a system for the positive drive of the spindles of a machine at the same speed.

The ordinary drum and band drives for spindles in textile machines are not satisfactory for modern high speed spinning for the reason that differences in spindle speed are almost inevitable and cannot be tolerated. Positive drive of L16 spindles by means of worm and gear arrangements, though highly desirable, requires more power, is

likely to be noisy, and requires frequent oil changes. Also with this type of drive it is necessary to stop the whole machine when repairs are to be made, and replacement of a machine part is not easy.

Non-extensible bands having positive drive gear engagement with the spindles have been tried, but owing to the necessity for crosing the bands in locations having short distances between axes of drive and driven elements, they have not been practicable, since crossing of such bands is impossible.

An object of this invention is to provide a spindle driving system using positive drive belts.

Another object is to devise a spindle driving system in which a series of spindles are driven in tandem by means of positive-drive belts.

Still another object is to devise a system in which selected spindles spaced along the length of the machine are gear-driven from a common drive-shaft, and each gearriven spindle drives a series or group of other spindles connected in tandem by positive-drive belts.

A further object is to devise a spindle driving system in which a portion only of the machine may be stopped to mfie repairs in that portion and without stopping the entire machine.

A still further object is to provide a housing for the spindle drive mechanism for protection against lint and dust, and having transparent sides or openings through which the operation of the driving mechanism may be observed.

These and other objects will appear from a consideration of the following specification taken with the accompanying drawings in which,

FIG. 1 is a transverse sectional view through the middle of a spindle housing showing one form of spindle rive according to this invention;

FIG. 2 is a similar sectional view showing a clutch between the drive shaft and a spindle driven thereby;

FIG. 3 is a transverse section showing a modified form of drive;

PEG. 4 is a transverse section substantially on the line 4-4 of FIG. 7 showing another drive arrangement;

FIG. 5 is a rear elevation of the drive shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a front elevation showing the arrangement of the driving belts; and

FIG. 7 is a front elevation of the form shown in FIG. 4.

In FIG. 1, a longtudinally extending spindle housing 1 having parallel top and bottom walls has a vertical partitition 2 extending longitudinally thereof to divide it into front and rear longitudinal compartments. The housing 1 may be constructed in sections arranged end to end and extending throughout the length of the machine.

The front face of each spindle housing section is left open or provided with an opening 3 extending the length of the section, and the opening is covered with transparent sliding panels 5 (FIGS. 6 and 7), preferably formed of a plastic resin, such as acrylic resin manufactured by Rohm & Haas and known commercially as Plexiglas.

A plurality of spindles 6 and a main driving spindle 7 are mounted in suitable bearings carried by the top and bottom walls of each housing section, the lower ends of the spindles extending vertically downward into the front compartment of the housing. Driving spindle 7 is positioned at the center of the housing section with a number of spindles 6 arranged on each side of it. See FIGS. 5 to 7. Each set of spindles 6 is driven in tandem from spindle 7 by positive-drive belts 9 running over pulleys 8 on adjacent pairs of spindles, see FIGS. 6 and 7.

The belts 9 and pulleys 8 are of the positive-drive type and are Well known. Examples of such drives are shown in U.S. Patent to Freedlander No. 1,828,136 and to Talipsky 2,815,671. The belts are of iii-extensible construction, see for example US. Patent to Ballard 2,753,- 980. Each pulley 8, except the pulley at the end of each set, has two toothed grooves to accommodate two belts, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.

To the rear of the partition 2 there is arranged in the rear compartment a horizontal, longitudinal drive shaft 10 which is mounted in suitable bearings 23, 24 and extends throughout the length of the machine. A pinion 13 is mounted on the spindle 7 above the belt pulley 8 thereon and meshes with a spur gear 14 on a vertical shaft 18 mounted in suitable bearings and carrying at the lower end thereof a bevel gear 15 which meshes with a bevel gear 16 on the shaft ill. Rotation of the shaft 10 thus imparts rotation to the main or central spindle 7 by way of gears 13 to 16, and spindles 6 are driven from spindle 7 by way of belts 9. An opening 2a is made in the partition 2 to accommodate the spur gear 14.

In FIGS. 2 and 5 there is shown a clutch device for interrupting the drive connection between spindle 7 and shaft 10. In this arrangement gear 16 turns freely on shaft 10 but is coupled to turn with the shaft by a clutch element 21 splined to the shaft and being movable into driving engagement with gear 16. The section of shaft 10 which carries gear 16 and clutch part 21 is coupled to adjacent shaft sections by coupling sleeves 25. Clutch part 21 is operated by a fork 26 carried by vertical shaft 27 mounted in suitable hearings in the spindle housing 1 and having an operating handle 23 secured to the lower end thereof. By this arrangement it is possible to interrupt the drive to the spindles of one or more housing sections without interrupting the drive to the spindles of other housing sections.

In FIG. 3, a modified form of drive for the main spindle '7 is shown in which the shaft 18 has a positivedrive pulley 19 thereon, in lieu of the spur gear 14 of the other forms, and this pulley is connected to the pulley 8 on the spindle 7 by means of a positive-drive belt 17. In this modification the partition 2 may be in cluded as in FIGURE 1.

A further modified form of drive of the main spindle is show in FIGS. 4 and 7. On the lower part of spindle 7 there is provided a Worm 12 driven by a worm gear 11 mounted on and driven by shaft 10.

It is preferred that the pulleys for the positive-drive belts be made of wear-resistant plastics such for example as Ultramid or Poliuretan, as a result of which-even at very high rotary speeds of the spindles (up to 12,000

revolutions per minute and more)a high resistance to wear and corrosion is assured, as Well as operation with a minimum of noise, with high protection against oil and cleaning agents such as benzene. Also, as a further result of the smaller specific weight of the driving means,

' driving the remaining spindles of each set in tandem comprising a positive-drive,

from a driven spindle toothed belt running over positive-drive, toothed pulleys mounted on each pair of adjacent pulleys in each set, and an individually releasable clutch element included in each driving connection from said shaft to said spindle sets, whereby when the clutch element is released, the drive shaft is permitted to rotate to engage only the remaining engaged positive drive connections.

2. A spindle driving system according .to claim 1 wherein said shaft and said pulleys are enclosed within a housing from Whichsaid spindles extend upwardly, said housing having an opening in one side thereof through which the spindle driving mechanism may be viewed, and transparent sliding panels for covering said opening.

3. A selective positive-drive system for textile spindles comprising in combination'a plurality of spindles arranged in a row and having their lower ends extending into an elongated housing open at both ends, a longitudinally extending drive shaft mounted within said housing parallel with said row, said drive shaft having means at each end for coupling to other shaft sections aligned with said shaft, a positivedriveconnection between said drive shaft and one of said spindles in said row, means for driving the remaining spindles in tandem from said one spindle comprising a positive-drive toothed belt running over positive-drive toothed pulleys mounted on each pair of adjacent pulleys, and a releasable clutch included in said positive drive connection to interrupt the connection between said shaft and'said one spindle without stopping said shaft.

4. A drive system according to' claim 3, wherein said positive drive connection comprises a bevel gear on said shaft, a vertical shaft adjacent said gear, a bevel gear on the vertical shaft meshing with said first bevel gear, a pinion on said one spindle, and a spur gear on the vertical shaft meshing with the pinion.

5. A drive system according to claim 4 wherein the bevel gear on the longitudinally extending shaft is mounted for free turning on said shaft, and said releasable clutch including a clutch element slidably mounted by a a vertical partition extending longitudinally in the housing between said drive shaft and said spindles and dividing the housing into two longitudinally extending compartments.

9. A positive-drive system for selectively operative control of textile spindles comprising a plurailty of spindles arranged in a row, a plurality of groups of spindles, each group consisting of a plurality of tandemly driven spindles associated with each said spindle of said row, each group having a separate housing, a drive shaft parallel with said row and having a driving gear for each spindle of said row, means providing a positive drive connection from each driving gear to the corresponding spindle in said row, an individually releasable light weight clutch element associated with each of said driving gears, each said clutch element being individually movable along splines on said drive shaft to cause at least one of said driving gears to be selectively disengaged from the rotating drive shaft so that said driving gears and their associated spindles do not rotate therewith, thereby causing the drive to at least one of a selected group of spindles to be operatively interrupted While the other groups are permitted to be operatively active. 7 v

10. Apparatus according to claim 9 further comprising for each clutch element, a fork connected thereto, a clutch arm, a vertical support shaft mounted in suitable bearings to each of said housings adjacent to the drive shaft and connected to the clutch arm, and means connected to said support shaft for selectively controlling the clutch elements. a

11. A selective positive-drive system for textile spindles comprising in combination a plurality of spindles arranged in a row and having their lower ends extending into a housing, a longitudinally extending drive shaft mounted within said housing parallel with said row, a positive drive connection between said drive shaft and one of said spindles in'said row, means for driving the remaining spindles in tandem from said onespindle comprising a positive-drive belt running over positive-drive pulleys mounted on each pair of adjacent pulleys, said positive drive connection comprising a bevel gear on said shaft, a vertical shaft adjacent said gear, a bevel gear on the vertical shaft meshing with said first bevel gear, a pinion on said one spindle, and a spur gear on the vertical shaft meshing with the pinion, said bevel gear on the longitudinally extending shaft being mounted for free turning on said shaft, and including a clutch element 3 slidably mounted by a splined connection on said drive splined connection on said drive shaft and being movable into driving engagement with said bevel gear.

6. A drive system according to claim 3 wherein said positive drive connection comprises a worm gear on said drive shaft, and a worm on said one spindle and driven by said worm gear. t

7. The structure as defined in claim 3 wherein the housing is open along one side and includes sliding panels of transparent material for closing said open side.

8. The structure according to claim 3 and including shaft and being movable into driving engagement with said bevel gear.

' References Cited in theme of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 246,469 Daly Aug. 30, 1881 1,149,718 Brown Aug. 10, 1915 1,597,583 Diefenderfer et al Aug; 24, 1926 2,592,853 Birkigt Apr. 15, 1952 2,875,573 Kohler Man}, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 683,880 France Mar. 10, 1930 816,971 Germany Oct. 15, 1951 

